Angel Brenna

Brenna is at that age when she is always saying funny things. Here are some recent ones:

Me: Brenna, what's wrong?
Brenna: (crying) Mom, I feel my heart breaking inside me.

Me: Brenna, when was the last time you went potty?
Brenna (thinking) Um . . . Thursday.

Brenna: Mom, Blake made stinky in his diaper. It smells dangerous.

*I realize that a lot of these have to do with potty stuff. When you have a baby and a toddler, that's what happens. It's funny anyway, right?

Brenna: Santa didn't come.
Me: Yes he did. He brought you all of these fun toys.
Brenna: Well I didn't see him.
Me: He came while you were sleeping.
Brenna: That's stupid.

Me: You're my sweet precious girl.
Brenna: I'm not your girl. I'm daddy's girl.

Brenna: My tummy doesn't need dinner. My tummy needs ice cream.

Brenna: I want to go outside with Ethan.
Me: No. Every time you play in the snow you come in crying because it's cold.
Brenna: You make it not be cold. Then I can play outside.

*nice that she has that much faith in me, I guess.
That's enough for now. Everyone suddenly needs me.

Laughing Video

Blake is just like any other stinker baby in that he will laugh and laugh until the video camera appears; then he turns into a total stoic. I did finally manage to capture this little clip. The best laugh is at the very end. The strange noises in the background are Ethan and Taylie's efforts to make Blake happy. When he laughs, it's usually because they are doing something hilarious. I've discovered that, at least to a baby, I'm not all that amusing.

Thanksgiving

Well, I can't say that Thanksgiving went totally according to plan, but it was really good. Actually, considering that it was my first time hosting a gathering of that size and scope, I'd say it was awesome. Here's what went wrong: I forgot to boil the water for the mashed potatoes. (Remembered just in time.) I forgot to spray the plastic wrap before I put it over the rolls, so it stuck and they fell. They were still edible, just not very pretty. (How does a person make lovely homemade croissants and then screw up the Rhodes rolls?) I forgot to get the high chair out of the basement for my nephew to sit in. I had bought all new silverware but forgot to wash it beforehand, so my Sister-in-law was doing it while I was trying to cook and we kept stepping on each other. I should have made everyone leave the pies in their cars or something so that they weren't taking up all of the counter space. I could think of a few more things, and I'm sure the people who were there could think of a few more. But here's what went right: Nobody got food poisoning. All of the food was really good, actually. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, 2 kinds of rolls, spinach salad, green salad, pineapple-marshmallow salad, carrots, green beans, and 2 kinds of cranberry sauce. The table looked pretty. We put all of the kids at my kitchen table. The grownups sat at portable tables in the family room (we moved the furniture out of the way). It worked out just fine. And I'm pretty sure almost everyone had a great time. If they were miserably unhappy, they were too polite to mention it.

After the meal we made gingerbread sleighs. It's a Mayfield family tradition. We ate about as much candy as we put on the sleighs. And then we ate pie. Pumpkin, Apple, Pecan, and Chocolate. Yum! Then the girls all went to see Twilight while Uncle Tom took 6 small kids to see Bolt. Yay, Tom! The best part? My family is all healthy. It's practically a tradition for us to get sick after Thanksgiving. Everyone getting together means everyone's germs getting together too. But I guess we took care of all of that in the first part of November. Hooray!!!

Blessing Outfit

Blake was actually blessed almost 2 months ago. But even though his Grandma found the smallest blessing outfit, Blake was so tiny that it was too big for him. It fits him perfectly now, so I decided to take some pictures. Isn't he so handsome?

Blake might win the "best baby" award out of our children. He is almost always smiling. He keeps himself entertained by chewing his fists and talking to himself. He gets lots and lots of attention from his big brother and sisters. They compete to make him laugh. Sometimes they all get in his face at once and he gets kind of scared. He does love them though. He sleeps through the night sometimes. And sometimes (like last night) he wakes up three times. At least he takes bottles, so James can help me out a little. I don't like for him to have too many bottles. These past two weeks have really shown me the benefits of nursing. Everyone in the family has been sick. Taylie had bronchitis, James had a terrible cold, Brenna had a flu and ear infections in both ears. Ethan got sick for about a day (immune system of steel) and I've been battling a cold for at least 10 days. Blake has been healthy as a horse. All those antibodies must be doing their job! Today I finally feel like everyone is getting over it. Hallelujah!

Thanks, Stacy

Oh, I forgot to thank Stacy for the cool new background. I'm not so computer literate, so I didn't know how to make it really cute. I depend on my relatives way too much. But I appreciate the help. THANKS!!!!

Dog

Okay, so I should probably explain why I said I hated my dog. It's because I hate my dog. Not really, I guess. We had just had a bad night. He sleeps in the 1/2 bath off of the kitchen. Usually I put him in there and he just sleeps until Ethan lets him outside in the morning. But on the night in question that's not how it happened. He barked relentlessly for about 30 minutes at 3:00 in the morning. Finally I put him in his outside crate and went back to bed. It is really cold outside right now, and I hear rumors of bear cubs in the area, but I figured whatever happened to him served him right. I couldn't get back to sleep though, so I was pretty tired and cranky in the morning. I really wanted to take him to the pound, but instead I decided to vent to cyberspace. While I was online, I researched shock collars. He hasn't done it again, so I still have a dog. And I've been told that several other neighborhood dogs barked that night. Maybe there was some very very high-pitched noise that humans can't hear. Maybe the aliens were landing. I don't really care as long as it doesn't become a regular occurance.

My dog is not the only one determined to make my life difficult. Today Brenna took my kitchen scissors and cut my shoelaces into little bitty pieces. Now all I have are Church shoes and sandals. Thanks, kid. At least she's creative.

I HATE MY DOG

Belossom

This is the actual picture of Belossom that Taylie drew for me so I'd be able to create the costume. You can see that a little bit of water got spilled on it, but that only adds to the charm.

And here is Taylie in the costume I created. They look just alike, right? She says that three different people actually knew who she was. Go figure.

I had to spray-paint that pumpkin for her to collect candy in, because orange didn't match. Taylie can be such a diva sometimes.

Costumes

Here are the Halloween costumes. Blake was a Bumble Bee. He sat on his bouncy seat outside in the sunshine while we passed out treats. We didn't
go inside until about 6:30 pm. It was the warmest Halloween we've had since I can remember.

Ethan was Ironman. I actually haven't seen the movie, but James and Ethan watched it together and I gather it was great. Boys and superheroes. Ethan and his friends went trick-or-treating without adult supervision for a little while, so he felt all grown-up.

Brenna wore Taylie's old flying pony costume, but she refused to wear the wings. She said "No, I'm a WALKING pony!" which I thought was pretty cute. This picture was at her Preschool Halloween party. The kids did a costume parade, then sang some songs for the parents. Brenna had some stage fright, but I still enjoyed it. She really understood trick-or-treating this year. James took her out for about an hour, and she loved very minute of it.

I have a great idea for a post about Taylie's costume, so watch for that later this week.

The Down Side . . .

So, remember how 2 weeks ago I was all "I loooove living in the mountains!"? Well, there's a down side. Last Wednesday morning I decided to take a picture of Ethan's awesome haunted house pumpkin. And here it is. Yep, the deer ate it. That little blob inside is all that was left of Brenna's pumpkin (the lid) and Taylie's was in pretty bad shape as well. Bummer. Fortunately, the kids weren't heartbroken or anything. They thought it was funny.

Sorry

When I first posted that husband tag survey thing, I had my answers in this awful blue color that was very difficult to read. So then I posted an apology. Today I noticed an "edit post" feature and changed the color. So I decided to change the apology to a "hooray, Megan!". I figured out a computer thing all on my own. Brenna:
bvvvvvvvvvvvvvvxxxx0000000009876543322222222221qwertyuiioophfybgyhftddd5sdx4 debbbbbbbbhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggfffffffffcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccxxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzssssssssshyhhghhhggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtgyggfffffrroiuytrreewwaqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqn

Tag

Sarah tagged me, so I think I'm supposed to answer these questions.

What is your husband's name? James

How long have you been married? Almost 12 years

How long did you date? We only really dated for about 3 months before we got engaged, but we were friends for 6 months before I managed to get rid of Pam . . . I mean, before we started dating.

How old is he? 34

Who eats more sweets? I don't really know because we don't usually eat them together. Probably me, but I have no idea what he has stashed at the office.

Who said "I love you" first? I don't remember. Probably me, because I have zero problem saying it to anyone. If I love them in any way, from "best friend" to "distant relative-in-law", if I feel it, I say it.

Who is taller? James

Who is the better singer? Hmmm . . . that would be Taylie. Between me and James, I guess me. I'm not sure if I carry a tune better than James, but I definitely know more of the words.

Who is smarter? Me, by a long shot. (kidding) I'm better at retaining random bits of unimportant information, James is better at figuring things out.

Who does the laundry? Me.

Who pays the bills? James. Poor guy has to do our family finances AND the business finances, but I'm really really really lousy at math, so I'm not allowed anywhere near the calculator. I do write the checks for singing, dancing, piano, etc. and I handle medical bills.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? James

Who mows the lawn? Hey, we have a lawn now! Did I mention the landscaping? James mows, I weed. (Ethan will mow next year. It's why we had kids.)

Who cooks dinner? Mostly me, but I make Ethan and Taylie do it once a week.

Who drives? We take turns. James takes more turns than I do.

Who is the first to say they're wrong? Me. Which is funny because James is the one who really IS wrong.

Who kissed who first? James kissed me.

Who asked who out? I asked him out. We went to a gymnastics meet using Eric's and my all-sport passes. Thanks, Dad.

Who wears the pants? Most people would say James. He makes most of the decisions. But it's not because he's pushy and I'm a wimp. It's just because he has an opinion and I don't. For example, with the landscaping, I had almost nothing to do with it. Because he had a vision, and I couldn't care less. If it's something I have an opinion about, we almost always go with my opinion. (Good thing James cares, because otherwise we'd never make any decisions.)

I want you to know that it took me about 3 hours to do this survey, in between loads of laundry and caring for 3 kids (Taylie's sick today) and everything else. Brenna wants to blog now:
jhgffddsa

Pumpkin Party

This Saturday was the annual Pumpkin Carving Party at Grandma and Grandpa Kitchen's house. I capitalize the name of the party because it's kind of a big deal. Grandma and Grandpa grow the pumpkins in their garden, then the Sat. before Halloween we all get together to eat lunch and carve away. Usually there is also a lot of jumping in leaf piles. This year the kids were more into freeze tag. This is Ethan and Taylie in the tree with their cousins Rueben and Ben. Brenna was either too scared or too smart to try climbing herself.

Ethan (Mr. Do-in-yourself) carved his entire pumpkin with almost no assistance. He made a very complicated Haunted House design. The pictures didn't turn out great (it just looks like a pumpkin with a bunch of random holes in it) but in person it is awesome.

Taylie did most of her pumpkin by herself too. She didn't want to sit still for any pictures at all.

Brenna obviously had a lot of help with her pumpkin. I did it all, basically. But out of all the kids, she is the most proud of that pumpkin face. Go figure.

My whole week this week can be summed up with two items. "Primary Program" and "Halloween Costume". Taylie's costume, to be exact. I really really hope it turns out well because it's been a bit time-consuming. She wants to be Bellosom. It's a rather obscure Pokemon. Obscure as in they don't sell costumes of Bellosom or even patterns of costumes. I can't find a really decent picture online, and Ethan doesn't own the Pokemon card. I'm thinking Taylie just made this one up. The only thing I have to go on is a picture of Bellosom that Taylie drew herself, and Brenna spilled water on. So that's been fun. Wish me luck. Speaking of sewing, I'd better go do that now.

Fall Colors

I live in the prettiest place! The colors are changing in the mountains, and it's so bright. It changes every day. This photo was taken from my deck. It's also what I see from my dining room window. Beautiful!



Recipe of the Week:

1/2 lb. kielbasa, sliced
brown susage in a large saucepan over med. heat



1 lb. potatoes, peeled & sliced
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can chicken broth (14 1/2 oz.)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. Caraway seeds
1/4 tsp. pepper

add to saucepan. bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally

1 can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar


add to soup, cover and simmer 10 minutes longer

2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 cup water

stir flour and water together until smooth, add to soup, cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened.

I got this recipe from a Taste of Home book (annual recipes 2007). The kids didn't like it at all, but James and I thought it was amazing! I tried about 4 ways to type it, and blogger kept putting the ingredients and the instructions in some strange order. I hope you can follow it the way it is now.


Brenna wants to blog:

ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmjmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmllllllllllkllllmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssseeeeettlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

Smile

I finally managed to take a picture of the Blake-Man smiling! He smiles all the time, especially at his big brother and sisters, but it's hard to catch it on camera.

Blake's 2-month checkup went great. He's healthy and thriving. 10 lb. 14 oz. He was smiling and cooing at the doctor. I felt so bad when it was time for the shots. He was needier than normal for a few days, but he's totally recovered now. He is down to waking me up only once per night, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Book of the Week: Santa Paws by Nicholas Edwards. Not a book I would have just read on my own, but I read it to the kids and they loved it! We're actually reading the sequel now. Santa Paws is about a stray dog that wanders around town doing good deeds and looking for a home. Cheese practically dripped off some of the pages. But again, it's a kids book and the kids loved it, so I'm giving it the thumbs up.

oops

Yesterday we had a little plumbing problem that turned into a bigger plumbing problem and we had to use the potty at the neighbor's house for most of the afternoon. My neighbor Ann (names have been changed) said we could come over as often as we needed to. I took Brenna over and Ann wasn't home but her son Dan let us in. After Brenna finished, I decided I might as well go too. While I was in the bathroom, Ann came home and immediately started yelling at Dan. I gather that he was watching TV when he should have been getting ready for Karate. Ann had no idea I was there, and she was totally getting Dan in tons of trouble. I had no idea what to do. I sort of just stood there washing my hands for a really long time. Ann heard the water running and opened the bathroom door. (I really had thought I locked it.) Can we say awkward? I just smiled and said hi and acted like nothing at all had happened. And as soon as I got inside my own house I laughed like crazy. The moral of this story is: Make sure you don't have guests before you start screaming. Or: Use the potty at the neighbor's with the well-behaved children. Or: Get dressed for Karate.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I can't fit both kids in the cart, so Brenna was walking. She does a pretty good job of staying near the cart and not darting in front of it. In the produce section I was struggling to get my lettuce into the plastic bag. When I finished I looked up and there was Brenna, watching me intently, eating a Roma tomato. She'd already eaten 2 big bites. I had to go to the checkout and pay for 1/2 a tomato. It was a little bit embarassing. On the other hand, at least she likes her fruits and veggies.

I also bought new dance shoes yesterday. For myself. They're called bear paws, and they can't be worn with tights, so I never got to wear them last year. I spent the whole year in compression hose because of my circulation problems during the pregnancy. So buying the shoes was a bit of a celebration for me. I had basically blocked those hose from my mind.

Why in the world would Blogspot split my words up all crazy like that? It may take me months to figure out how to make a post look the way I want it too. Feel free to mock me all you want.

Here are some adorable photos of my kids.

Ethan, Taylie, Brenna, and Blake.

Ethan is Blake's best friend. Blake will smile at me every now and then, smile at James and the girls about once a day, and smile at Ethan all day long. Until I get the camera out and then suddenly the smile mysteriously disappears. What a stinker. I can't be too mad at Blake though, because for the past 3 nights he's only woken up once per night. So he's on my good side. I've recently talked to a few people who say things like "I can finally get my baby to fall asleep in his / her own bed!" (These people don't actually say his / her. They know the genders of their babies.) Blake has slept in his own crib every night since birth. What a good little guy.

Brenna is keeping me on my toes. She cut her own bangs again! Right before school pictures, too. They let siblings come in the afternoon, so I've done that with Brenna every year. This year, however, I'll have to wait until the bangs grow out (again) and go to a portrait studio. Or hire a photographer. Or something. Brenna sleeps pretty well at night too right now. My sleep situation is pretty good.

Speaking of sleeping, I'd have to say that my least favorite part of the school year is waking up to an alarm clock. It's never been a problem before because I usually just wake up at the same time every morning automatically. But my sleep schedule has been a bit wacky lately, so I have to use an alarm clock. I'm not a fan. I feel like it's yelling at me, and I hate it when people yell at me. My favorite part of the school year is that the kids' friends are in school too. I do love their friends. And I'm glad that my house is a popular hangout. I don't even mind feeding them all. But after the whole summer of having tons of kids over all the time, the peace and quiet is a nice change.

My birthday was great! I went shopping all morning, then met James in Provo for lunch. While I was there I went to D.I. (thrift store) and bought a bunch of books. For anyone who is unaware, buying books at thrift stores is my favorite hobby. I don't actually have that much time to read the books, but that doesn't stop me from buying them. And I read every chance I get. Anyway, that night we went to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. The kids were well-behaved (it happens sometimes) and I got to eat Bluebell Ice Cream for free! James bought me flowers and also a KitchenAid mixer, which I've wanted for a long time. I've already baked bread and homemade croissants using the KitchenAid. I love it!

Speaking of books and cooking, people ask me for book recommendations and recipes all the time. So if I come across a really great one (book or recipe) I'll put it here. In September my book groups read:

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (I really really liked this one)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (probably R-rated, but the setting was amazing and I liked the general plot line.)

In October we are reading:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (This is a classic! I like it a lot, but James would hate it because it is not plot-driven at all. It's just about a girl growing up in Brooklyn.)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (I didn't get into it until about 1/2 way through the book. Maybe I should have used Cliff's Notes or something. But the second half moved a lot faster and I'm glad I read it. Again. I know I read it in High School but I didn't remember much about it. Just Madame DeFarge and her knitting. To be honest, I probably remember that part because it was mentioned in "The Boys Next Door". Anyway, enough about that.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (4th in the Twilight series. I didn't love it, but then again I read it while I was in labor so my opinion was perhaps a bit warped. I was a bit cranky at the time.)

I promised Brenna I'd take her to the Library, so I gotta go. More later.

This is the video of Taylie performing at Payson Onion Days. If it works and people are able to view it, I'll post more fantastic videos later. It takes a long time to upload, so I hope it doesn't take too long for you to be able to watch it. Good luck!

I'm finally starting my blog!!!

Here are some highlights from the past week or so.

Ethan is in third grade and has a man teacher. It's a rare thing, and I guess it's making an impact on Ethan because now he says he might want to be a teacher himself someday. I asked what his favorite thing about Mr. Bradley is. The response: "He's funny. He calls your pointer finger your 'booger finger'." Great. Ethan also started back up his piano lessons this week. It's his second year of piano and he really seems to like it.

The most exciting thing for Taylie was getting a package from Mema with matching dresses for her and her American Girl Doll Nellie. I bought the fabric and the patterns at least 6 months ago, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that I was never going to get around to acutally sewing them. Mom took pity on me while she was here. She took the stuff home and got it all done within a month. Thanks, Mom! Taylie really likes first grade, especially getting to eat lunch at school. She also takes dance lessons and singing lessons. She sang in the Payson Onion Days Children's Talent Show 2 weeks ago. The audience was probably 300 people, but she didn't seem scared at all. Just got up there and did her thing. She sang "It's the Hard Knock Life" from the musical Annie, with actions and things that her music teacher taught her. It's adorable, and someday maybe I'll figure out how to put a video clip online for you all to see.

I wanted to picture of Brenna to be right here, but I guess I didn't do it right and since this is already my 6th try, I'm just leaving it the way it is. Sarah, help!

Brenna started Preschool this week, and she loves it! They studied ladybugs and she brought home a big plastic cup full of ladybugs. She and Ethan let them loose in our yard when he got home from school. Brenna will go to school twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. Just the perfect amount of time for her (and for me). She also is taking a creative dance class. She's been excited about that for 2 years, so it's like a dream come true for her. I think her favorite part is the leotards. She keeps telling me how pretty she looks in a tutu.

Blake is mostly just growing. He eats, sleeps, etc. Normal newborn stuff. I'd guess he weighs about 8 pounds by now. He still sleeps well at night, waking me up between 1 and 3 times, depending on when I go to bed and when I wake up. I'm really ready for him to have a more predictable daytime schedule, so I'm working on that. It basically means that I need to plan my shopping, etc. around what I want him to be doing. Blake is also losing his hair in a funny way. I'm now going to post a picture of that, but I have no idea where the picture will be located on the blog page. Just find it. It's the only picture of the top of a baby's head. I'll also post a picture of his cute little face, mostly to keep Mom happy. Here goes.

Well, I guess maybe I need to put all of the pictures up first, then make my words fit around them. Next time. I just wish someone (James) would write a program that lets the computer read my mind. Then it will just know where I want the pictures, and it will be so much easier for me to do this stuff. Don't laugh at me too much. I'll get good at this.